Hunting Animals and their Spots Pt 2

Posted on Fri Oct 9th, 2020 @ 11:41pm by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Chief Petty Officer Remal Kajun

Mission: Diplomatic Masquerade
Location: Captain's Quarters

Her stomach rumbled, a friendly reminder that she hadn’t eaten in too long again. Living On coffee tended to allow one to forget the requirements of actual proper sustenance. She dissolved into a fit of laughter, glaring at the offending region of her body for ruining the moment.

“ Always with the food thing” She laughed, extricating herself from her Husband and heading over to the replicator. She still had to remodel her quarters to include a proper kitchen area to allow Remal his prowess in the kitchen. Personally all she needed was a coffee machine but she knew her husband loved to cook.

“Hungry? For food that is.” She glanced towards Remal and raised a questioning eyebrow as she scrolled through the replicator files.

He had sampled so many things in his attempt to get the recipes right that he was no longer hungry, but for her sake and her abrupt about face he got up and moved to the replicator. "The Larosh Pie is okay but the damn thing can't make a good Alvas or Hasperat to make me happy." He sighed. "What it needs is a swift kick or a good computer programmer, one of those things I am not. At least until we have a real kitchen area."

“ Well we do happen to have a computer specialist on board - I could call in a favour” She quipped as she moved over and allowed him some space. “ Fancy something simple? Soup, salad, spring vegetable frittata?” She offered as she saw his look of frustration at the offending piece of technology on the wall.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders draping them across her chest as he stared down the machine from behind. "I have everything I need right here, but if you're hungry then surprise me with something Terran perhaps." His pallette wasn't craving any one thing in particular but multiple things. He had just spent 6 years on his home planet eating native foods, this replicated stuff would take some getting used to.

“You are too sweet” She mused, relaxing into his warm embrace and releasing a sigh of contentment. How had she lived so long without him? “But I dunno about you - I need food” She scrolled through the selections and made a few adjustments before a number of dishes appeared in the large alcove of the replicator. Keeping the dishes covered she moved them to the dining table and returned for a bottle of spring wine to share with the meals. Hopefully Remal would find something there that wasn’t ‘too’ replicated.

Practically dejected and feeling led on, he moved to the table and awaited the surprise meal she had almost instantly planned out. His mouth salivated at the smell.

"I will organise a kitchen for you" she started, taking each of the covers off the plates and unleashing the smells beneath. It was a simple yet classic selection of breads, antipasto, tapas, and samplers from a number of different cuisines. She was somewhat used to the inadequacy of replicated food but she knew Remal would be missing the fruits of Bajor's harvests.

"That would be lovely. But you have a lot on your plate already." He took a bite of the bread and decided it was adequate. "You need to focus on your snake problem and allow me to worry about our kitchen." He was sure to choose his words carefully so not to call to attention the fact that he would be doing the cooking. He chose a bite of antipasto.

She looked down at her plate before her brain kicked into gear and worked out what he was actually referring to. "I'll sign off the request, there has to be some advantages to being the Captain" she smiled at the thought of Remal in their own kitchen cooking up a storm. Her own skills were somewhere between 'ok you won't starve' and 'mediocre'. She tried to focus on him instead of the gnawing tension in the back of her skull reminding her of the present problems at hand. She wouldn't let it ruin their dinner.

With a mouthful of vegetables that didn’t taste like what he thought they should taste like, he put his elbow up on the table and his hands in front of his mouth as a way to hide his distaste. Instead he took his pleasure in watching her eat, she was obviously hungry as she wasted no time chowing down the salad.

She watched his reactions carefully, almost too carefully as though trying to read his every nuance to glean information.

"You hate it….it's not from scratch with fresh produce from the farm, I know. Sadly I guess I've gotten used to it" she admitted, demolishing the plate of food in front of her. She paused and took a sip of wine, mirroring his posture by propping her chin on one hand.

He coughed, “No, it’s good.” He lied as his eyes watered. Then he chuckled knowing he was a bad liar.

"I call your bluff on that one" she snorted, sipping her wine and watching him try to recover from the mediocre salad. "I may not have spent much time with you over the last few years but I still know when you're lying." She laughed at his expression, hoping it wasn't making him feel too embarrassed.

“Yeah, I’m afraid I can not tell a lie. That, that was bad. You’d think this marvel of a ship could get fresh vegetables right.” He sat back and rolled his eyes before drinking the rest of his wine. “Look at the two of us, complaining about the food like an old married couple or something.” He smiled.

"Something you could get used to again?" She raised an eyebrow before laying her cutlery on her plate and wiping her mouth with a serviette. "That and sharing a bed, I still think I snore...sorry about that in advance"

“The arguing, maybe, the food, a definite no.” He grew coy, his voice dropping an octave, “The bedroom and the snoring, possibly, given time to explore the benefits, quite possibly.” He gave his patented smile as he began to feel the effects of the wine, how many glasses had he had?

" I think I've eaten enough for a week, not that it was as good as your fresh cooking of course" she smiled and cleared the dishes, marvelling at how easily they fell into the routine habits of a married couple. "I've missed this…" she commented idly as they sat in comfortable silence.

“So have I.” He got up and helped clear the table. “So… what else do old married couples do for entertainment around here?” He was starting to feel like he was a hunter and she a minx he was stalking as he watched her moving about the room. The way she slinked, the way she bent over to pick up the towel he had thrown on the floor. She was far from old and he was but a man after all. A hunter who couldn’t change his spots if he tried.

She could feel his eyes on her but didn't care, 'let him look' she thought to herself, she was his to look at at after all. She continued to tidy up, recycling the dishes, clearing the table and letting him simply watch. Done with the clearing she raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes?"

He placed the last dish in the recycler, gave her an eye, then asked the computer, “Play Sambanera.” The computer chirped and then music with a Samba beat began playing. He hammed it up a little by shaking his hips to the music as he moved closer to her. “Care to dance?” His smile was large despite the fact he wasn’t all that coordinated and probably looked the fool. It didn’t matter though for he was in good company.

For a moment she merely watched him, a smile turning up the corners of her lips before she felt drawn to join him. How long had it been since they'd laughed like this? Dancing the crazy music in the privacy of their quarters - just two people, no rank, no titles, just ordinary people.

Together they swayed to the music, the lights dim and the starfield flew by in the background. Nothing but them and the music, two heart beating in sync. Tomorrow was another day with it’s own set of problems to face, but tonight it was the rhythm of the beating drums that kept them spinning, at least until they fell backward onto the bed, laughing. For it’s the company we keep which makes us who we are.

OFF